"I use the internet for almost everything! That’s where it’s at these days. We use Facebook regularly as well as post new music videos as much as we can. It’s all about exposure and the internet is an easy source to use. We also have a website we update regularly. Check it out!"
She also said that using websites such as CD Baby and iTunes makes it easy for people who heard of them or saw them one time to check out their music. Though the main source of income for this specific band is from CD sales and gigs, Julia said that she thinks that it's disrespectful and straight up impolite to not pitch in the measly $0.99 for a single song to support the artist. After all, it is the artist the depends on the buyer to pay for the song, and in effect, contribute to the continuity of the band. But as of right now, for Addy&Julia, piracy isn't that big of a deal for the band because right now, as Julia put it: "Right now it’s all about getting fans and viewers. Down the road, revenue will become more important, but at the moment gaining popularity is the main goal." In the case of small indie bands such as Addy&Julia, the top two sources of income are CD's and gigs, but for much larger artists, they may depend more on internet downloads of their music. Internet downloads of music are the aspect of the music industry which are suffering the most from internet piracy. This is so because pirating music is simply the easiest way to obtain music today; it's free, it's accessible, and because so many are doing it, you probably wont get caught.
To combat this, some organizations or artists are taking a stand against online piracy of music. The artist Prince is especially taking an especially eccentric measure, he vowed not to release a single album until the issue of online piracy in the music industry is under control. Prince has taken exercising his rights to his intellectual property very seriously. He has gone to the extent to wage a legal war against file sharing giants YouTube and The Pirate Bay, as well as eBay. From this we can see that Prince is ardently against the prospect of anybody hearing his music without having paid for it.
Other artists, on the other hand, don't really mind piracy of their music. Some believe that it helps spread their popularity, others say that touring makes up for lost revenue. As pop artist Lady GaGa put it:
"You know how much you can earn off touring, right? Big artists can make anywhere from $50 millon for one cycle of two years' touring. Giant artists make upwards of $100 million. Make music--then tour. It's just the way it is today"(Source: Techdirt)
Artists such as Ed O'Brien and Neil Young back up her opinion, O'Brien said "Pirates may not buy the album, but they're spending their money buying concert tickets, a T-shirt, whatever." (Source: Midem) So overall, yes it is harming the industry, but there is a split in opinion among many artists. Some say it helps spread their music and touring makes up for it, others, such as Prince, ardently stand against it.
Artist's websites:
http://addyandjulia.com/
2 comments:
Hello KAIO! I agree on most of what you say, but have you considered the amount of money it takes for artists to go on tour at all? I personally think that although the internet helps spread popularity and therefore benefits the artist in the short term, it is harmful in the long term.
I agree with the comment above, although I don't think it is harmful in the long term. I like the quote you found from Lady Gaga. Do you know of any other big name artists who agree with her? What do you think someone like Beyonce Knowles would think of her?
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